Robert E. L. Taylor

Robert E. Lee Taylor Jr. (June 8, 1913 – July 2, 2009) was an American publisher and chairman of the Philadelphia Bulletin in the years leading up to the paper's demise. He was jailed in 1963 for his refusal to testify before a grand jury about his paper's reporting, and was released after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that his actions were protected under the state's shield law.

Early life and education Taylor was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1935. Taylor started work at the Philadelphia Bulletin after graduating from college — where his uncle Robert McLean was publisher, and owned the paper together with his brothers and sisters — and worked at the paper for nearly 40 years, other than during World War II, when he served in the United States Navy.

Philadelphia Bulletin As the paper's president in 1963, he and other staff members at the Bulletin were ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating municipal corruption and were required to furnish details of the sources for the paper's stories. Upon refusing, Taylor and city editor Earl Selby were held in jail for contempt of court.

In March 1964, McClean stepped down as publisher, having served in that position since 1961, with Taylor succeeding him as publisher and keeping his post as the paper's president. At the time, the Bulletin daily circulation of 700,000 made it the city's largest and one of the largest of all afternoon papers nationwide. The ascendancy of The Philadelphia Inquirer combined with the loss of popularity of afternoon papers led to a significant drop in both advertisers and readership. In his role as chairman, he oversaw the paper's sale in 1981.

Personal life Taylor died at age 96 on July 2, 2009, at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He was survived by two daughters, a son, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His two marriages, to Leonore McAlpin Shiland and Jane Matthews Jackson, both ended with the death of his spouse.